Worry

"You okay?"

"Are you alright?"

The words came out of their mouths at the same time, and for brief second both of them were caught off guard.

They tried again with almost the same results.

"Were you hurt, Kagome?" the hanyou asked, narrowly beating Kagome's question:

"Inuyasha, are you okay?"

They frowned.

"I'm fine," the girl said definitively.

"It's nothing," he scoffed. Inuyasha took in the smudges of dirt and the scratches on her face, but when she wouldn't hold still from scanning him for injuries, so he hooked his finger under her chin to get a better look.

Despite the intimacy of Inyasha's gaze, Kagome couldn't tear her eyes away from the blood slowly leaking from his left cheek. It wasn't terrible, but it was deep enough to warrant a bandage. Her hand came up to it automatically wanting to comfort him and assess the damage.

"Are you really alright?" They questioned simultaneously once more.

Again surprised at their mirrored sentiments, their concern soon overcame their slight shock. They always managed to butt heads, even when it came to worrying over each other.

"Let me take a look at ya," Inuyasha ordered.

"I said I'm fine," she dismissed. "I need to look at you."

"Keh! There's nothing to check out, so we should worry about you," he pressed on.

"You're the one who took the blows going one-on-one with that demon!" Kagome argued in her frustration.

"And I'm the one who's part youkai. You're only human, Kagome. Those scratches are gonna affect you way more than me!"

Huffing and pouting, Kagome allowed her annoyance to simmer down. "Fine," she relented and bit her tongue. She knew that the sooner he dealt with her minor injuries the sooner she could tend to his much more serious ones. She would just have to purse her lips and put up with his fussing for now.

The girl sat down as Inuyasha fished her backpack for her first aid kit and opened it as if he had done it all his life. Kagome didn't know how to feel about the fact that they got hurt so often that everyone was pretty well-acquainted with her medical supplies.

"Show me," Inuyasha commanded in a medium tone. It wasn't angry or rushed. It sounded very much like a stoic parent.

Sighing, she offered her legs to show him how her knees had been abraded and dirtied, and how the back of her right calf had a decent cut. The blood had already stained the edge of her white sock, but it had already started to scab over lightly. Still, she knew it would be better to clean the cut and not risk infection.

The way he touched her was astoundingly careful; he was always mindful of his claws. If anyone else saw them, they'd be amazed. How could anyone think he'd be anything but gentle, she wondered. The look on his stoic face was concentrated, but she could see the worry lines and the soft downturn of his lips. It wasn't the grumpy, eternally in a sour mood frown that was his default- it was a unique expression of concern that was easy to decipher after getting to know him.

He wrapped her legs up with the bandages and lifted them to check his work. It was always efficient, which was strange seeing as he never had much practice at it, but it led her to believe two things: 1. Inuyasha was a quick learner, and 2. He actually cared about the job he was doing.

"Thank you, Inuyasha. Now let me take care of you."

He rolled his eyes and scoffed, but nevertheless he shrugged off his tops and sat down with a bored face.

He was proud of her for getting so proficient at wrapping wounds and acting as their group's healer. Both Miroku and Sango were as skilled at tending to battle wounds, but there was something very different when Kagome did it. It wasn't just to get things done. Inuyasha could describe it best as... soothing. She cooed positive words and she always asked questions for her patient's comfort. Is this okay? How does this feel? That too tight? It was so caring, so nurturing, that he felt slightly possessive of as his caretaker.

Thoughts of her sweet attentions turned towards other males just made a bitterness coat his mouth. All the times she worried fluttered over that shitty wolf and even Miroku at first, it made his stomach turn! But he'd seen her equally concerned over any girl that was hurt. Kagome was just the type of person who'd make a fuss over anyone.

She was so silly earlier, worrying that much about him. She even had the gall to get annoyed at him when he insisted she get taken care of first. He could tell she wasn't happy about it. Why on earth would she get so pissy? So he got a couple of cuts and bruises, big deal!

But it must have been to her.

The way she brushed off her own injuries and gave him that intense look of concern. It was obvious she was worried. It had been in her eyes, her voice, the way she grazed his cheek so delicately. She wasn't even thinking about herself!

Keh. He guessed he expected as much. Typically Kagome, fretting over him like she always did.

She always did, eh?

Inuyasha watched as the girl wiped away the dirt and dried blood from his shoulder, propped up on her scrapped knees.

It was glaringly obvious that she was extremely and unabashedly concerned for him, even over something as small as this. It put him to shame how her devotion was practically coming off of her in waves.

"Ah, this looks a little deep... I'm going to put the antiseptic on it. Okay, Inuyasha?"

Ah fuck.

"You know I hate that shit. It stings!"

She wouldn't coddle him because she knew that it'd only upset him. No, the easiest way to get what she wanted was with a small jab to his ego. God knows it was more sensitive than his actual skin.

"This coming from a guy who can take a punch through his gut!"

"Just get it over with," he pouted, blushing because she knew him too well and she was too doting and much too good for him.

"I just want to make sure you're alright," she huffed.

He knows! He knows! That was the problem here!

"Yeah, yeah."

She so... unmistakably wanted him to be alright. She went out of her way to make sure he was. Him! Half demon Inuyasha. He hadn't had anyone worry about his well-being this much since his mother...

He winced as the spray sent a small shot of pain through his body.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Then her hand turned his face towards her and she inspected the cut on his cheek again. He felt a damp cloth wipe away the dried blood as Kagome bit her lip only inches away. He couldn't bring himself to look at her for long and soon pinned his gaze to the side, embarrassed.

She applied a bandage over the thin line and then smiled. "There we go!" She sat back, beaming at her handiwork.

He wanted her to stop being so fussy! So concerned, and caring, and compassionate to him. It was overwhelming! It was unwarranted and foreign how damned kind she was to him. He'd gone on for a long time on his own, and people were either indifferent to his suffering, or they went out of their way to cause it. And sure, he found in Kikyou someone who sympathetic. Kagome was more than that...

She was always deeply affected by him. She was sorry, she was troubled. She worried and wept openly. She was determined and even protective... selfless as she nursed him from his worst.

He couldn't stop thinking about it. The way she looked at him said it all. "I want to take care of you. I want you to be alright."

She was the best thing to ever happen to him, and that's why he couldn't stand to know he'd let her get hurt in the slightest. For the girl who gave her all worrying over him, who made such a commotion over every injury, who poured all her energy into saving his life, he would give it to her, give everything he could to make sure she stayed in it.

"T-thanks... Kagome."

She smiled, bright eyes beamed.

"I'm just glad you're alright."

His eyes flitted to her knees and the bruises on her face. She must have ben really hurting, but in that moment, he really believed that what Kagome wanted more than anything, above her own pain, was for him to be alright.

"You too."